Starting in April 2025, the minimum hourly wage for apprentices is set to jump by close to 18%, going from £6.40 to £7.55 an hour.
This boost was announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, right before the autumn budget, as part of a wider move to increase wages for young people.
Nearly one third of all 16- and 17-year-olds, and nearly one in five 18-year-olds on apprenticeships earn the apprentice minimum wage.
The government is also upping the national minimum wage for 18-20-year-olds by a whopping £1.40 to hit £10 an hour – the biggest increase in this age bracket in history.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the new rates from April 2025:
- Apprentices and under 18s: Going up from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour
- 18- to 20-year-olds: Jumping from £8.60 to £10.00 per hour
- 21+ National Living Wage: Rising from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour
This follows last year’s big 21% jump in apprentice pay, which pushed apprentice hourly earnings from £5.28 to £6.40.
A bit of history on apprentice pay
The national minimum wage was introduced in 1999. Before then, working people’s wages were protected by different ‘Wage Councils’ which protected the interests of people in certain sectors or trades.
Minimum wages for apprentices were only introduced in 2010 at the grand wage of £2.50 per hour – not enough for a Tesco Meal Deal these days. This minimum has slowly crept up ever since.
Of course, a lot of apprenticeships pay above the minimum wage. Recent government data suggests that apprentices on average earn £10.86 per hour, but that includes every apprentice, in every sector, from level 2 to level 7.
Check that you’re being paid the minimum wage
Government data shows that many apprentices, particularly those aged 16 to 18, are often paid less than the minimum wage they’re entitled to. In fact, about 50% of underpaid apprentices receive pay that’s within 5% of the national minimum wage for apprentices, but this still falls short of the legal rate.
To check if you’re being paid correctly, the government offers a minimum wage calculator to help you work it out. If you’re unsure, you can use the calculator here: https://www.gov.uk/am-i-getting-minimum-wage
